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In most cases, your solar panels will send any excess energy back to the electric grid, and you'll receive credit through a policy known as net metering. If your utility offers net metering (the majority of utilities in the U.S. do), every kilowatt-hour (kWh) you feed back into the grid is credited on your electricity bill. When you need more energy than your panels are producing, you can use those credits instead of paying your utility.

If you have a solar battery with your system you can store your excess energy at home instead of sending it back to the grid. This can improve your solar economics if your utility doesn't offer net metering, because in those cases you won't receive any credit for electricity you feed into the grid.